Goodbye Prince
by browni222
Summary: After Echizen Ryoma tries to commit suicide, a year after winning Nationals, he fails but loses his memory. His parents hide his true identity to avoid Ryoma trying again. What will happen when Ryoma goes back to Seigaku by E. Masahiko? No pairings- yet.
1. Chapter 1

Hello~ ^^ This is my first fanfiction I've published (so far)

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis does not belong to me~

"Ryoma… When I heard him say he wanted to put it all behind him, I didn't think he'd… he'd…" Rinko began to shake and wiped away the streams of tears falling down her face. Echizen Nanjiro held her hand comfortingly.

"It's okay, Rinko…" He soothed. Rinko hugged her husband and closed her eyes tight.

"Wh-What should we do?" She asked, sniffling.

"What do you mean? When Ryoma wakes up everything will be back to normal."

"But normal for him is _more_ tennis. Tennis is his life, and also the reason why he tried to end it…" She paused, looking through the crack of the door to see her beloved green-haired son with closed eyes. Rinko naturally turned to the constant, steady beeping of the heart monitor, giving a silent breath of relief. Seeing her son like that scared her.

"Get him away for tennis then, possibly. We can move to Japan and start a new life with a different name." Rinko looked up at her husband with wide, hopeful eyes.

"He'll remember though." She paused, giving another caring look at her son. "Everything."

"He won't, remember what the doctor said? He said that his brain activity was odd, meaning that there would be memory loss for sure." His eyes widened. "He must've caused the accident to start over. He was studying the brain in school…"

"We can help him start over then." Rinko looked thoughtful. "As Echizen Masahiko." Nanjiro gave an approving nod.

"And if he wants he can go back to being the Prince of Tennis."

"Even after finding out we lied to him? His life would be a lie…"

"…We're doing it for him, Rinko."

The heart monitor suddenly spiked. Nurses rushed into his room in a flurry of white.

"What's happening? What's going on?" Nanjiro demanded.

"Is something wrong?" Rinko cried. Her eyes grew wide and fearful. Maybe today would be the day he'd die in his coma…

"Nothing's wrong," assured a nurse with short black hair.

"Then what's happening?" Rinko shrieked, annoyed and scared how she and her husband were being excluded.

"Your son… He's waking up."

Meh. That was basically the introduction. When I talk about Ryoma in the story should I call him Masahiko (obviously everyone else would) or just call him Ryoma?

ex) Masahiko thinks that browni222 is super cool. "Masahiko, what are you doing?"

Ryoma thinks that browni222 is super cool. "Masahiko, what are you doing?"

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to review ^^


	2. Chapter 2

HELLO EVERYONE. No, I'm not dead…

But my computer is. ;_;

The battery ran out and won't work at all so now I'll need to get a new computer, but for now I'm doing this on someone else's laptop!

Don't worry—I'll still update as soon as I can ^^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis :)

Sorry if the characters are OOC, this is a year later and I've made their personalities a bit more different.

Also what did fanfiction do with my formatting? … :(

* * *

"Class, this is Echizen Masahiko. He is a new student from America."

"Konnichiwa," Ryoma (Masahiko) greeted half-heartedly. He absolutely hated being woken in the morning by Karupin who decided to test how sharp his claws were on his pajamas.

"Take a seat between Satoshi Horio and Akatsuka Masato." The teacher pointed to two noisy third-years that grinned at the same time. _Oh, just great._ Ryoma thought, knowing he was going to be tired out and annoyed by these two.

"Ohhhh-haaaaayyyy-ohhhhh doukyuusei(student)," One of them grinned.

"Ohayo…" Ryoma sighed, wondering why he couldn't have gotten the perfectly great window-seat next to that quiet, nice-looking girl.

"Hey, guess what?" The kid didn't even wait for Ryoma to respond. "I'm going to be a tennis pro when I grow up! I'm really good. I bet I'm the best non-regular on the team. I must be greater than the freshmen as well! Hey, this year I'm allowed to try to become a Regular! I just hope I'm not in the same block as Fuji, he's the only one I can't beat. However, I can beat any other Regular! You just watch!"

… This was going to be a long year.

"Oh, sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Satoshi Horio…" said the student with a thick unibrow. Ryoma sighed for what seemed like the millionth time in the morning. Because he sat next to him in his first class, he also had to be his guide around the school. Wow. So. Much. Fun."I'm part of the tennis team, so don't be surprised when I get taken away by fangirls." He bragged.

Horio pointed to a long hallway of individual rooms. "These are the practice rooms. You play the violin, right?" Ryoma nodded. "And from here is the—" He was interrupted by loud cheering from outside.

"What's happening?" Ryoma asked, peering out the window at a large crowd.

"Oh, the practice rooms overlook the tennis courts for the regulars. Soon I'll be a regular because I'm really amazing at tennis. I can beat Tezuka any day!" Ryoma's eyes were fixed on the intense tennis match.

"Are there any middle schoolers there?." He asked, never taking his eyes off the tennis match.

"I don't think so." Horio looked at Ryoma. "Hey, do you play tennis?" He shook his head. "Oh, phew. Because I had a friend named Echizen Ryoma who was really good in tennis; I couldn't even beat him! That's how good he was. He moved to America and then I stopped hearing about him. It's weird 'cause your surname's Echizen. And you're from America! But Ryoma has green hair. And you have blonde hair…"

Ryoma was about to add in that his actual hair color was green and that he dyed it, but Horio interrupted yet again. "And I think his eyes are like… uh… well, I forgot." They walked down the stairs and showed him around the tennis courts.

"You like tennis, right? You should join. Of course, I'd beat you, but I promise to go easy on you." Ryoma shrugged.

"Eh, maybe." Horio laughed.

"C'mon! Then you can be my partner for tennis! Anyway, these are the non-Regular courts." Suddenly he waved at a girl wearing a high ponytail. She waved back, shyly. "That's Sakuno Ryuzaki. You were looking at her during class, right? Last year she just wore her hair in braids. She looks so much prettier with her hair down." Horio rambled. Sakuno was trying a tennis stance, and by instinct Masahiko lightly tapped the back of her knees with a tennis racket on the ground.

"Bend your knees." He said, then walked off again with Horio, who was staring at him like he was crazy. Sakuno got up from her position and looked at Ryoma.

"…R-Ryoma?"

* * *

Did Sakuno find out who Masahiko is? Honestly, I never really liked her. She was on the cover of the first book, in a picture bigger than Ryoma's, but after that she stopped showing her face -.-;

Oh, next chapter he meets the Regulars for the first time! Will they recognize him?

And sorry it's short. This was the best cut-off for the chapter…

Review and Story Alert :)

~browni222

(PS: THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR POSITIVE REVIEWS ^^ I won't be stopping the story any time soon unless my new laptop breaks down T_T)


	3. Chapter 3

** _ I'm really sorry, everyone! I'll try my best to update faster! Also… I'm going to make it so that they're 8th Graders and all the Regulars are high schoolers. Sorry, but the rest of the story makes it match better. O_O;**

**Oh right, here's the story since you probably don't want to hear about my nonsense rambling. -.-; **

* * *

"Are you going to join any teams, Masahiko? Join the tennis team with me!" Horio asked the 3rd-year laying on the grass. It was lunch break and the two students decided to eat on the green hill behind the school.

"Ugh… I don't even like sports. They're such a waste of time." The lethargic boy groaned and yawned. Horio grinned.

"C'moooon, Masahiko! Join the tennis team with me!" Ryoma gave him a glare and rolled over, then started to walk downwards towards the school.

"No."

"Augh! Waaaaaait!" Horio wailed and grabbed Ryoma's polo, dragging him back to the shade of the cherry blossom tree Ryoma was recently napping under. "Join!" The boy begged with desperation. "I'll be all alone!"

"I'm sure you'll make other friends." He sighed, already slipping away from Horio's grip.

"I bet you're good at tennis! When you actually attempt something, you do really well!" Ryoma stopped and turned around.

"Actually attempt? I just don't like to waste my energy on unnecessary things."

"That doesn't give you a reason to always skip PE!"

"I can't help it. Whenever we go to the gym my right leg just starts to feel sprained."

"No! Last class you told our teacher that it was your left leg!"

"Right leg, left leg. Really, what does it matter?" Ryoma shrugged, and his friend slumped, defeated. Suddenly an idea came to his mind.

"Well, you do know it's required for all students to take a sport, right?" He grinned mischievously. "And tennis is one of the sports that requires less running." He wasn't sure that was true because last year the Seigaku Regulars were always running whenever he saw them, but it was a desperate attempt so he wouldn't be lonely. There was silence as Horio anxiously waited for Ryoma's response… then he realized that his friend was sleeping. Although his friend was lazy, he was actually really talented if he tried. Ryoma sighed without opening his eyes.

"Fine. Whatever, I'll ask my parents."

* * *

"How was your first day of school?" Nanjiro, the former tennis pro star, asked his son as he walked into the house. "Meet any hot chicks?" Rinko, his wife, hovered dangerously behind him with glinting eyes, holding a spiked bat. Just the average day in the Echizen household.

"Ahahaha… Calm down… I was just kidding, Rinko. I don't think you heard me correctly. I asked him if he made any new friends!" Rinko shot her husband a piercing unamused glare and then smiled at her son.

"Was it fun? Seigaku's a really large place."

"Yeah, sure. I don't know why but Seigaku seems so familiar to me. Especially the tennis courts. Weird, right?" The two parents looked at each other urgently. Familiar? Could this bring back his bad memories?

"Well, I'll be in my office. Finish your homework, alright?" Rinko left with Nanjiro to her study. Ryoma grabbed a can of Ponta and headed into his room.

"Do you think he remembers?" Nanjiro asked, once they were sure Ryoma was out of earshot.

"Is this the school that Ryoma went to before?" Rinko opened a file drawer. "It'll probably be in here, right? Since this is our old house from a year ago."

"Oh, is that it?" Nanjiro asked, delicately grabbing a folder labeled "School". They flipped through it for a while and saw a paper that said "Seigaku School Tuition" behind a cleverly hidden magazine of Nanjiro's consisting of adult material. (This earned him many bruises)

"AAAAGH, I'm an idiot!" He shouted, as quiet as he could, after verifying that they all said Seigaku for Echizen Ryoma.

"We sent him back to the worst possible place!" Echizen Rinko and her husband sat in silence for a while. "Well, you know we can also just send him to Hyotei Gakuen. I think there's a spot available there."

"Wouldn't he be suspicious though? We should just let him stay. I mean, it's not like it's going to kill him to stay." Rinko's voice became quiet and shaky.

"But it might…" They heard a loud pound from upstairs.

"Kusojijii, Kaasan!" Ryoma called from upstairs. Nanjiro gave an unhappy grunt at how Echizen called him an old man so casually. "I'm going to join the tennis team, alright?"

The two parents gave worried looks at each other. "Tennis…" Nanjiro began to refuse, but was stopped by a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Nanjiro, don't. Remember, before America, he had so much fun in Seigaku with the tennis team? Maybe…" The old wife looked at Nanjiro cautiously. "Maybe in Seigaku he can remember, once again, that tennis is meant to have fun."

* * *

An uneventful week had passed, nothing really new except for him getting permission to join tennis. Clubs were starting in two days. Currently, Ryoma was resting on a sunlit bench near the tennis courts after a few hours of playing his violin. He was having a peaceful nap until something yelled in his face.  
Or… to be exact ... Meowed.

"Karupin?" Ryoma asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and waking up to see a red -haired boy with large eyes staring up from his lying-down position on the grass.

"Meow-nya!" The boy meowed again. _What's wrong with this boy? _Ryoma rubbed his eyes again and the eager boy began to roll around in the sunlight of the setting sun. He wasn't young looking, but Ryoma thought he could be from the tennis courts. But… why was he… meowing?

"Eiji! Come back! We have the cure!" Called a tall teenager with a muscular frame. Eiji, apparently the human acting like a cat, hissed and dashed off on four legs. Ryoma grabbed Eiji by the collar and he became frozen as if he was a plush doll.  
The tall boy bowed his head and apologized at the confused third-year.

"I apologize for... this." He said, bowing his head. He finally made eye-contact with Ryoma and gasped.

"R-RYOMA!" The third-year simply stared at the bewildered teen. There was a long pause in the air for a minute, broken by Ryoma.

"Uh... excuse me?" He asked the stunned high-schooler.

"Ah, sorry, Ryoma." He tugged at his short black hair. "It's Shuichiro Oishi! I just grew my hair out a little!" Oishi anxiously searched Ryoma's eyes for recognition. Before Ryoma could reply, Eiji bit his friend's ankle.

"Ouch! Cut that out!" Oishi yelped and grabbed Ryoma's wrist. "Come on, the Regulars are all at the tennis courts."

"Hmm, this did not have the reaction I was aiming for." mused a tall guy wearing glasses.

"Of course not!" Eiji yelled, now back to his normal state after drinking some pink, foul-smelling liquid. "I became a cat. A CAT!

"Who's that you brought with you..?" Kaidoh asked, nodding his head to Ryoma who had his cap over his eyes to avoid the sun. They were all curious, especially because the cap looked similar to their old friend's cap.

"You'll see." Oishi grinned and gestured to Ryoma.

Ryoma lifted his cap. "Oh. Hello." He said, staring at their faces. The tennis geniuses' mouths dropped simultaneously in a long pause of silence.

"Ryoma!" Eiji hugged Ryoma hard, making him pant for air after Eiji let go.

"Ryoma? Where have you been?" A guy with brown hair and oval glasses asked, looking shocked but trying to maintain his composure.  
Another guy with a bandanna tied around his head didn't say anything but Ryoma could hear his breathing, which sounded very much like a snake. The snake-boy began to glare at Ryoma... or maybe it was his normal look.  
Anything Ryoma said was eaten and interrupted by the tennis Regulars. "Hey, Ochibi! Why did you bleach your hair?" Ryoma scowled.

"Why are you back?" By now he was pretty ticked off.

"Are you okay..? You look pretty annoyed. Did we do som—"

"Listen people. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't even know who Ryoma or whatever is!" He walked off angrily, leaving the Regulars more stunned than they were when they saw him.

However... There was something familiar about all of them. Right! It's probably because he saw them on his tour of Seigaku with Horio. Yeah, that must be it...

And yet something nagged at him in the back of his brain... Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

* * *

**I know it's cheesy. T_T And I sincerely apologize.**

**Also, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR POSITIVE REVIEWS :)))**

**Lastly, thank you SO MUCH to 123ANIMEfun who was really helpful :D**

**~browni222**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry D: Um… updating kind of slipped my mind. I tried to make this chapter **_**somewhat**_** long. Thanks to everyone who reviewed c: **

**Here's Chapter 4 of Goodbye Prince!**

**Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis doesn't belong to me- D: **

* * *

"Since you're new to tennis, start out by picking up the balls around court that the rest of the players dropped." A tall, black-haired third-year glared at Ryoma, noticing the new kid.

The new kid sighed, clearly annoyed. Usually he would be taking an afternoon nap under his favorite shady spot under the sakura tree, but since it was _mandatory_, he had to join a club. Unfortunately, the second reason he chose tennis was because of his friend, Horio. And Horio didn't even come to school today.

"I came here to play and learn tennis, not to be some slave for arrogant players." Ryoma scoffed. Although they were the same age, apparently the third-year didn't think so because Ryoma was still pretty short, so he looked down on him and acted as if he was his superior.

"Listen, _kid_," he snarled with disdain. "Everyone has to start by picking up tennis balls."

"Are you a Regular?" Ryoma smiled cockily. He searched his pockets for any money for a can of Ponta.

"Next week we're holding the Regular try-outs. I'm definitely gonna be a Regular. I was a Regular last year, and now that Kaidoh and Momoshiro are in the high school now, it's obvious I'll become a Regular," boasted the third-year.

"Mmhm, sure. I'd like to see you try." The cool wind in the hot sun rustled his blonde hair as he walked away, headed towards a soda machine on the courts.

"Hey, not so fast. Where do you think you're going?" The third-year called, taking advantage of Ryoma's height and grabbing the back of his white collar with an annoyed frown. Ryoma quickly wiggled out of his grasp and paid for a can of Ponta, opening and sipping it, watching the boy with an uninterested stare. The teen spoke again.

"I'd like to see _you_ try to win against _me. _Four games, nothing too hard. Let's meet on the Regular tennis courts after practice." The third-year laughed cruelly and smiled. "That is, if you're as good as you say you are."

The cocky third-year ignored him and adjusted his messed up collar. "I was talking to you, brat!" He yelled, then sent a quick, accurate fast-ball at Ryoma's drink. The second-year narrowed his eyes, watching the orange beverage slowly seep out on the hot green courts. Then he turned to the tall third-year and smiled coldly.

"If I win you have to buy me a can of Ponta." _Ha! No way would I of all people lose._ The challenger scoffed and smiled.

"Fine. If I win then you have to be my personal servant for tomorrow. See you on the courts after practice."

For thirty minutes, Ryoma was stuck with the first-years and had to learn how to hold a tennis racket and learn which part of the racket the ball should hit. Apparently he was so good that the coach called him a "natural", but in reality, the genius found it easy and a waste of his time and energy. After practice was over, he was supposed to meet the guy that challenged him, all for a can of Ponta. At that moment it was pretty much safe to say that the deal was ridiculous, and if he didn't quit he'd probably end up as that guy's servant for the day. Ryoma just learned how to hold a racket, and this guy had probably been playing for a while and was possibly decent at it.

He was tempted to simply leave and take the subway after practice ended, but that would crush his pride. But then again… He just learned how to hold a racket today. He was definitely screwed.  
The third-year was waiting there impatiently, practicing with the wall. Ryoma noticed that he missed a couple times, but not like he could really do better… well, maybe he could.

"What's your name, third-year? I need to know so I can add it to my list of people I've beaten." Ryoma bluffed cockily.

"Don't be so cocky, brat. It's Tadao Takahashi to you."

"Masahiko Echizen." _Echizen…_ Tadao felt like the name was familiar, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He wanted to humiliate this cocky kid and show that people have to start out from the bottom, just like he had once did.

"Smooth or rough?" Tadao asked. Ryoma had no clue what he was talking about.

"I guess… um… Smooth…?" Tadao spun his racket and it ended on the rough side. He grinned and grabbed his racket.

"It's on rough. I'm starting, now you can see why I'm going to be a Regular soon." _Ohh, it was to see who started._

Before Ryoma could react, a ball whizzed past his shoulder unexpectedly.

"Hah! You're all bark and no bite." Tadao scoffed after he won the first game. Ryoma gritted his teeth, frustrated. _That wasn't fair. _

A few non-Regulars crowded around their match.

"Hey, what's happening?" Oishi asked as he and Eiji tried to peer into their match. A short boy, who Eiji couldn't see that well due to the cap covering his eyes, was in a tennis match with Tadao Takahashi, a third year who liked to brag. Oishi shook his head and walked away, clearly uninterested.

"Eh, nothing special. Some newbie trying to defy Tadao, and of course Tadao's winning. That guy loves to win, even if it's unfair."

"Poor guy. Should we call off the match? I know for sure that Tezuka wouldn't approve."

"No, look at the determination in that kid's stance. If you interrupt that match you're going to wound his pride."

"Let's hope the guy goes easy on him then…" The Golden Pair decided to watch for a few minutes to see if the second-year would make a miraculous comeback, but as expected, none came and Tadao won another match. Soon all the spectators left, the match's outcome seemed too obvious.

"Feeling cocky anymore, kid?" A cocky grin curved on Ryoma's face. He lifted his white cap, and Tadao could see his bright golden eyes, which seemed to gleam. Adrenaline pumped through Ryoma as his surrounding seemed clearer. Sweat moistened his forehead from the constant heat and the exertion. His hands gripped the black handle and his feet moved to a comfortable, almost familiar, position.

"You're not bad." Tadao's smile slowly faded. Ryoma's voice had changed, more confident, like it was obvious he'd be the winner. It had a sly, lazy tone behind his words as if he could do it without any effort.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to serve again." Ryoma said, smiling an out of character smile, which could almost bear a resemblance to Fuji.

"Keh. Hurry up then," Tadao scowled, Ryoma's strange personality change scaring him. _His position… It's like a professional. What happened..? _Chills ran up his spine, anticipating something unusual. He got into position, waiting for Ryoma to serve. The boy served a ball that went over the net. _Well, at least it went over the net this time, _the challenger thought as he got ready to hit it as it bounced up from the court… _And I thought something changed about him… I must've be— _His thoughts were interrupted as the ball he was about to hit bounced harder on the ground and launched at Tadao's face unexpectedly. Luckily, he was able to move out of the way, but he stood in shock, watching the ball slowly stop moving as if it was rigged.

"15-love."

"What kind of serve _was_ that?" Tadao was bewildered. The boy with golden eyes gave him no answer but stared at him as a cat would stare at a mouse…it's prey. "B-But you're new to tennis!"

"And I thought you were stronger than that." The Prince of Tennis looked disappointed as if the confused third-year had failed him. He looked around. "Where is everyone?" He shook his head."Well, I guess no one will be able to witness how you lost against a newbie 'brat'," Ryoma winked cockily. "It's alright, I'll finish this match in less than 5 minutes."

"Five minutes?" _No way, even with that serve of his, it's not possible to beat me in less than five minutes. _The ball seemed to never land in Ryoma's court anymore because of his serve which Tadao found it impossible to hit.

"45 love to 0." The genius announced after a few more wins, getting ready for another serve. This time the tall 3rd-year managed to hit it, but the impact of the ball pushed him back and it flopped lazily on his court.

"3-3," The cocky boy grinned after winning two other games effortlessly. Tadao was sweating and panting. Never would he have expected that this kid would beat him, him being one of the members on the tennis team close to being a Regular. "Last game wins."

Tadao served and won a point, mostly because he did it at the moment when Ryoma wasn't paying attention. However, Ryoma won the set just by simple tennis moves.

"Hey, don't you have any other cool moves? Or is it just the fancy serve?" Tadao mocked, even though he won. However Ryoma didn't mind and simply gave a signature cocky grin.

"Of course I do, but I'm saving them for the Nationals." The third-year frowned and tossed a can of Ponta to Ryoma and walked off, looking around to see if anyone experienced his failure.

Ryoma smiled. _Maybe joining the tennis team wasn't such a bad idea after all…_

* * *

**How was that? If you haven't noticed, Ryoma and Masahiko are kind of like two different people… ^^; **

**Masahiko's lazy and doesn't like trying while Ryoma's just cocky. Review, it'll make lazy pandas all over the world happy. c; **

**browni222 **


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